Seen & Heard at Big 12 Media Days: Coaches 'excited,' Ex-Cats ready to face UA, Kansas City as conference's hoops home, more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Maybe the Big 12 is strong enough that the Arizona Wildcats can finish fifth as expected and still make a deep NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament run.

But finishing just one spot higher could go a long way toward allowing them to actually do so.

The Big 12 has opted to give teams finishing first through fourth two byes in the league’s conference tournament, putting those teams directly into the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 13, with no more than three games to play before Selection Sunday.

That’s especially notable for the Wildcats, who will have to play at Kansas on March 8 and could face the prospect of a really long stay in the area — or a very short trip home — if they had to play on the first two days of the Big 12 Tournament.

Teams finishing fifth through eighth in the regular-season race will receive a single bye into the Big 12 Tournament, opening with second-round games on March 12 while the bottom half of the league will start play in the first round on March 11.

The women’s tournament will feature the same format, starting with first-round games on March 5 through the finals on March 9. If BYU is in the championship game, it will be played on March 10.

Both tournaments will be held at T-Mobile Center, meaning UA fans can catch the women’s team in the tournament, and the men’s team at KU or in the Big 12 Tournament on the same trip.

Tommy’s secrets

An assistant to UA coach Tommy Lloyd on last summer’s USA Basketball U18 team, Texas Tech’s Grant McCasland was asked what he took away from the experience.

“I’m thankful I got to learn all of Tommy’s system at Arizona, so now we know how to compete,” McCasland said with a smile. “No, that’s actually not true. Tommy wouldn’t give me any information. I think he’s changing all his calls.”

McCasland went on to say how valuable it was to work with top U18 players and quickly cobble together a team of all-stars, who went on to win a gold medal in the FIBA U18 AmeriCup at Buenos Aires.

“To be a part of that is humbling,” McCasland said. “I think you go into that realizing that being a part of USA Basketball is so much bigger than you know who you are as an individual coach.”

Walton appearance

Legendary Pac-12 broadcaster Bill Walton paid a posthumous visit to Big 12 media day, but you had to look hard to see it.

On Arizona’s portion of a mural collage behind a basket at T-Mobile Center, Walton can be seen tucked to the side of broadcast partner Dave Pasch.

Not surprisingly, Walton was wearing a floppy wig.

Walton, who often derided what he called “Truck Stop” conferences while often referring to the Pac-12 as the “Conference of Champions,” worked most of his Pac-12 schedule last season before stopping late in the season without public explanation. He died in May from cancer at age 71.

Self-punished

Cramming main-stage interviews from 16 head coaches into one day, the Big 12 ran a mostly tight schedule featuring each coach for 10 minutes.

Tight, that is, until Iowa State’s T.J. Otzelberger showed up nine minutes into his 10-minute window.

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“The first comment I’ll give, just so everybody knows, we try to uphold the high level of accountability in our program,” Otzelberger said. “So by virtue of me being late for this opportunity, there will be some sprints that I will have following media day today.”

Flattened

While the general consensus at Big 12 women’s media day was that the landscape wasn’t all that different in basketball style of play and competition, it is in one other sense.

“It’s flat,” said TCU star Hailey Van Lith, a Washington state native who has also played for LSU and Louisville. “I love the mountains. I love nature.”

Back at ya

The fluid nature of college basketball these days means it is no longer unusual for a player at one school to be playing against a former school.

In Madison Conner’s case, it’s just a little unexpected that Arizona joined the Big 12 this season. She transferred from Arizona to TCU in April 2023, four months before Arizona announced a “transfer” to the Big 12 that becomes effective this season.

TCU will play Arizona only once in women’s basketball this season, but that game will be at McKale Center on Sunday, Feb. 16.

“I can’t wait,” Conner said. “I can’t wait to go there and play back in my home state.”

A product of Gilbert Perry and Compass Prep, Conner joined the Wildcats midway through the 2020-21 season, then spent the next two seasons at UA before making her move.

One (NIT) bid league

In an apparent response to the new Fox-backed College Basketball Crown postseason event, the NCAA announced that the NIT will give at least two “exempt” bids each to teams in the ACC and SEC while the Big 12, Big Ten and Big East will receive only one.

The NIT also will reinstate automatic bids to conference regular-season champions who do not receive automatic NCAA Tournament bids — provided those teams have an average ranking of 125 or better in Kenpom and other computer rankings.

An event that could pose competition to the NIT if it is held as scheduled, the College Basketball Crown is scheduled to feature teams from the Big 12, Big Ten and Big East who were not invited to the NCAA Tournament.

Quotable

“I said ‘excited’ a lot. Four times, I think.” — ASU coach Bobby Hurley, after his one-minute opening statement.

The big numbers

12 — Games UA will play in the Central and Eastern Time Zones this season, including eight in Big 12 Conference play.

0 — Games Arizona will play in the Pacific Time Zone this season.